Seattle's Best Mommy & Kid Friendly Cafes

Seattle is known as the rainy city, many people also think of it as being a kind of technology heavy place because they know people here who work at Adobe, Microsoft, or any number of the smaller software companies around down. Women in Seattle, many like myself, who work(ed) in the industry and find themselves with a big belly resulting in offspring often find themselves in a quandry when not working in a frequent take a walk and get an espresso break having environment!

My baby is approaching the age of one, and since I became unemployed at 8 months pregnant with her I've had a good year to learn about these places. I have a four year old as well but when she was at the age these places typically attract I was working, so it was less of a concern.

I found five of these cafes in Seattle which all make a point of being kid-friendly to varying degrees and there is also one honorable mention for a coffee shop that was particularly 'pregnancy' friendly that I will tell you about at the end of all this.

Cafe 'o Play - http://www.cafeoplay.net
Cafe 'o Play is a very unique place located near UW, they cook some real food (my favorite is the sweet potato fries!) and have espresso and also some alcoholic beverages like beer. Their kid section is the biggest that I have seen and is actually gated off, parents pay to admit their kid in there at the cash register and keep their socks in to go inside. Kids have a kind of tree house, lots of toys, and lots of other kids to play with. There is also a smaller section where smaller kids can go where there is a train set similar to what is seen in most Barnes and Noble locations. Overall I really liked the fries I mentioned as well as the coffee, especially because they had rice milk last time I went there and being allergic to dairy and soy that is very pleasant for me. I wasn't impressed with the bathrooms, it could have been just a really busy time but they seemed less than spacious and clean, I would not want my child walking in there with socks. Play area was loads of fun for all the kids I saw there though there were some frequent escape artists who managed to continually find a way to get someone to open the door. It's a bit of a madhouse but it's a lot of fun too, beautiful artwork up on the walls too. They have wifi access here too and have their password (which is usually funny!) up by the cash register. Cafe 'o play has the biggest most open play area that I have seen with the kids contained behind a short wall. They also have a good sized room available to rent for bigger meetings that we have utilized.

My Coffee House: http://www.mycoffeehouseseattle.com
My Coffee House has just changed ownership, I have made three attempts to check it out but it's taking some time to get started. I frequented it a lot prior to the switch and liked the way they had seating all around the kids area so that moms could stay close to the kiddos without getting into each others way or standing around feeling awkward. I am hoping that it is even better since the switch but can't quite speak to that yet. Last time I was there they didn't have the credit card machine working yet and so I was unable to purchase anything. They had wifi before, not sure if they do now.

Coffee to a Tea: http://www.sugarrushbakingcompany.com/
Coffee to a Tea is almost a restaurant more than a cafe, and is located in West Seattle. My biggest criticizm of this place is that it seems to be suffering an identity crisis! When trying to communicate with a co-organizer in the Seattle Hip Mama Meetup group about setting up an event I got into a debate with her about what the place was called! I think I have it figured out that the coffee and cupcakes are somehow separate entities and go by different names, sugarrush/coffee to a tea. Play area here is similar to the play area in barnes and noble in that it doesn't have much seating nearby for parents, kind of a bummer because it is close to an exit too so it's extra important to watch for little runaways. There is a great mixture of toys and the kids I've seen there are usually very into their games of pretend with the little kitchen, trainset and dollhouse in particular. Coffee is great here as well as the tea, I love the soup this place usually has the most though, there has been a vegetarian and a meat soup available each time I've gone and the meat soups have been fabulous (haven't tried the others yet). They have free wifi too which is essential if you are anything like me and trying to get work done, I often come to this location solo with baby and computer to get work done.

Mosaic A Community Coffee House http://mosaiccoffeehouse.org/
Mosaic is a fabulous coffee house for a variety of reasons, the one I hear most enthusiastically from friends is the fact that you pay by donation, this means that you basically pay what you want for what you order. I love this because it means you can still eat/drink coffee even if you are broke and don't have what it would normally cost. In addition to this there are two large closed off rooms, one of which is a kids play area and the other is a rentable space for meetings and such. I would recommend Mosaic for any large event, it is a very family friendly cafe and the main open area is usually decorated with a variety of students who are studying one thing or another which makes for a very pleasant atmosphere.

Tuogo http://www.tougocoffee.com/
There are at least two locations that I know of for this coffee shop and I am referring to the one that is closed to Capital Hill in this review as I have not been to the other. I love this place for having a sign on the door that specifically indicates they are LLL friendly, and as a nursing mom I appreciate that. Their coffee is really good as well and they have a pretty wide assortment of pastries. Their play area is in the back and they have a piano which of course is loads of fun for the kids, there is also a nice big table, a bench and a few chairs to sit on for the parents who can see the kids pretty well so long as there aren't too many parents the play area is lowered a bit and the kids have quite a bit of room to play. One one occasion my husband and I had a meeting with someone there and I was impressed by the acoustics in that we didn't have to yell to hear each other, probably had something to do with the lowered floor level? I don't know but it was handy. They too like most of the other places do offer wifi.

Stella Coffees http://www.stellacoffees.com/
Stella is a coffee shop that I believe is now a wine bar as well, and as it is located downtown right by the Art Museum it isn't really a kid-place, not a wild running around kind of kid place anyway. I wanted to mention this place in this article though because when I was pregnant, I frequented this location a lot and was introduced to a new (to me) drink called "Orzo Bimbo" which is a chicory coffee substitute which doesn't have any caffeine, instead it is packed with nutrients! I was lucky enough to be there close to when it first opened and it was one of the owners who told me in a very fatherly way that I shouldn't be drinking espresso in my condition, but to try this instead...and I was HOOKED. So if you are working downtown and pregnant, before you get to the kid with you always and needing play areas...I very highly recommend this place, the Orzo Bimbo is delicious and the coffee is even better.

I enjoy frequenting all of these locations for different reasons, some are better for one on one, others for big group meetings, and still others for getting some solitary work done. I recommend thinking about what you are wanting to get done and then reading through these to see which one sounds like it fits your needs the best.

Now if only I could find one in Rainier Valley, Beacon Hill or the Columbia City area. I have to drive to all of these locations and I would love to have one close enough to walk to. If I missed any good locations please let me know!

Cafe Websites:
Cafe 'o Play http://www.cafeoplay.net/
My Coffee House http://www.mycoffeehouseseattle.com
Coffee to a Tea: http://www.sugarrushbakingcompany.com/
Mosaic A Community Coffee House http://mosaiccoffeehouse.org/
Tuogo http://www.tougocoffee.com/
Stella Coffees http://www.stellacoffees.com/